Like other species of the genus Candida, Candida albicans is a diploid fungus that grows both as yeast and filamentous cells. More specifically, C. albicans is a dimorphic fungus, which has both a yeast-like growth habit and a filamentous form consisting of both hyphae and pseudohypae. C. albicans exists as part of the normal microbial flora in humans, but can produce opportunistic infections ranging from topical infections such as oral thrush to life-threatening disseminated mycoses. In response to changes in its environment, C. albicans can transition from budding yeast to its filamentous morphology. The filamentous morphology is important for its virulence and causes both skin and mucosal infections. Quorum sensing has been identified as a phenomenon contributing to C. albicans' morphogenic transition from its conidial to filamentous form.
Quorum sensing systems have been found to coordinate virulence and biofilm development of pathogenic microorganisms. Manipulation of quorum sensing systems has been recently considered a promising strategy for developing antimicrobial agents since the manipulation of quorum sensing systems only inhibits the virulence but not the growth of microorganisms.
Generally, essential oils are volatile aromatic oils derived from plants through distillation. Essential oils have been found to act as a quorum sensing inhibitor to decrease the rate that C. albicans transitions from budding yeast to the filamentous form. Terpenes, such as sesquiterpenes (e.g., farnesol), are among the primary chemical constituents of most essential oils, and are derived from units of isoprene. This high terpenein essential oils may contribute to the ability to attenuate germ tube formation in C. albicans. 
While essential oils are known to be environmentally friendly and effective in combating microorganisms, they nevertheless suffer from significant problems. For example, essential oils are highly volatile and unstable in the presence of oxygen, which ultimately limits their effectiveness in most applications in which wipes are commonly employed (e.g., food service wipes). Attempts to overcome this problem often involve the use of a larger amount of the essential oils to prolong antimicrobial activity. Regrettably, this often leads to another problem in that high concentrations of essential oils can cause damage to certain types of food products, such as fruit.
As such, a need currently exists for an improved formulation that is safe, stable, and capable of being used as a quorum sensing inhibitor of C. albicans in a practical manner.